In John Phillips, the Chargers signed a tight end whose versatility and toughness grabbed them.

“The things he can do, run blocking, doing things in the passing game, pass protection, you can do a lot of things with him,’’ Mike McCoy told the Dallas Morning News, which is tracking the former Cowboy. “His toughness. You love his toughness."

That's becoming a theme with the new regime -- moves toward versatility and toughness.

Replacing Antoine Cason with Derek Cox made the Chargers more physical at cornerback. Cox likes to press receivers. He loses some duels, but he's aggressive, as I wrote in the coaches film breakdown. He's also comfortable playing off receivers.

King Dunlap isn't a mauler, but he's athletic enough to fill in at both offensive tackle spots. Chad Rinehard is at home at left or right guard, and can dabble at tackle.

Running back Danny Woodhead does many things well. He also has the crazy gene, slamming his 5-foot-7 1/2 body into the maw of defenses.

McCoy showed himself a versatile planner with the Broncos. I'd guess that if he plays chess, the knight is his favorite piece.